


Making a Scene

by lea_hazel



Series: Decline and Fall [23]
Category: Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem (Visual Novel)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, Infidelity, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:56:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22694413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: "I'll be back to deal with you later."A companion piece to "Interesting Times", showing the fallout from Jarrod's birthday.
Relationships: Arland Princess/King of Revaire, King of Revaire/Queen of Revaire
Series: Decline and Fall [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/946446
Kudos: 3





	Making a Scene

After his abrupt departure, Jarrod was absent for a full week. He returned grumpier than ever, and gave no hint of where he had been or what he'd been doing. At dinner that night, he retired much earlier than usual, pleading fatigue, which was at least somewhat plausible. But he'd ignored Verity through the evening, and the next day as well, which was her signal that things between them were back to some semblance of normalcy. Which is to say, there was nothing between them at all.

"And good riddance to it," Petra had muttered, when she thought Verity couldn't hear.

Verity had to admit that she felt much the same.

The King didn't return to Merrotayne for another two days. When he did appear, he had the look of a man who had ridden through the night. He stormed through the house, barking out a series of orders at the terrified servants and leaving a trail of muddy boot prints in his wake.

The young ladies were sitting in the parlor together. At the sound of the commotion, fear flashed over Mhairi's face, and irritation over Cecily's, who never enjoyed not being the center of attention. Gisette's pleasant smile didn't waver an iota as she firmly shut the parlor door, shutting the noise out, metaphorically if not literally.

Verity had no idea what her own face looked like.

_I'll be back to deal with you later._

And she had no idea what he would do, either.

* * *

She had only a short reprieve, the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon, before he tracked her down.

After finishing out the morning in sullen, terrified silence, the ladies scattered to their individual pursuits. Verity was quite certain that she'd glimpsed Gisette stalking in the direction of the makeshift archery range on the other end of the grounds. Mhairi had shut herself in the music room and was practicing her playing with rather more force than artistry. Lady Demetria had snatched Cecily away for a stern private conference, leaving Verity to her own devices in the empty library.

She pretended to read, but her nerves were ragged and the words wouldn't stay still on the page. The house was quiet. No sign of the stomping and shouting of before, which could be a sign of return to normalcy, or perhaps not. He was so unpredictable. He so _enjoyed_ being unpredictable. She knew that if he knew how much thought she gave to predicting his actions, it would give him a vicious joy, and he could _never know_ how often she thought of him.

"Hello, Verity."

Verity stood up from her seat and reached down, self-consciously, to straighten her skirt, though there was nothing wrong with it.

He was standing in the doorway of the library, leaning against the door frame. Whatever temper fit had passed over him earlier had subsided, at least insofar that he had bothered to change out of his road-worn riding clothes. And he'd bathed. She could see that his hair was still damp.

"You seem to be in better spirits this afternoon, Your Majesty," said Verity, fastening her hands behind her back.

Hyperion stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. It closed with a soft click that seemed somehow even louder than a slam would have been. He stalked across the room and glared down at her, his gray eyes cold as ice. Placing one fingertip just under her chin, he tipped her face up to meet his eyes. She hadn't even realized that she was striving to turn her head away.

"We have some unfinished business, Verity," said Hyperion.

"And what is that?" she asked.

He scowled deeply. "Your behavior has been unacceptable. What do you say to that?"

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "I have done nothing wrong," she said, "that I'm aware of."

"Nothing wrong," he repeated. "What do you call your performance the other day?"

Her face burned. "I've done nothing other than what was expected of me, what has _always_ been expected of me."

"It was disgraceful and provocative," he declared, "and you're not to repeat it under any circumstances. Understand? I won't have you becoming a distraction."

Verity glanced down, drawing a deep breath. "Am I a distraction?"

"You know very well that you are," he hissed under his breath, "you little vixen. Will you look at me when I'm talking to you?" His voice climbed noticeably on the last part.

"Hyperion, what are you terrifying the girl for?"

Verity felt her blood turn to ice. Hyperion straightened bolt upright, releasing her face at last. He turned his whole body like a door on a well-oiled hinge, to the open doorway where the Queen stood.

"You told me that she wouldn't be a problem," he said.

"Let me handle it," said Violetta.

Hyperion frowned and turned back to her, briefly, to glare down at her and say, "Verity, go to your room." In a lower undertone he added, "We'll finish this later."

Verity turned to look at the Queen, who nodded minutely at her. At that slim offer of approval, she picked up her skirts and fled out the opposite door, with what was left of her dignity.

 _We'll finish this later_. That was hardly promising, either. Why did she have the feeling that every time her reckoning was delayed, that would only make the eventual clash that much more violent?

* * *

Now she had not just Hyperion but also Violetta to worry about. She hadn't forgotten the Queen's promise to _handle_ her, whatever that meant, and it kept her too anxious to focus during the day, and too anxious to sleep until late at night. She lay in bed, listening to the soft rustling sounds of the house going to sleep, wanting to join them but unable to keep her mind from running circles around itself.

The next day was no improvement. She slept later than she meant to, and woke up groggy and ill-tempered. Petra hushed the house maids sternly when they came in with her breakfast, which improved things somewhat, and by the end of her second cup of tea, Verity felt almost human. Food and tea were enough to put her troubles out of her mind, at least briefly. Just as she was getting ready to make plans for her day, she heard a knock on the outer door.

One of the maids leapt to answer, and Verity heard a murmur of soft, deferential voices. With unerring instinct, she realized who was standing at her door. There was not enough time to put order to her dress and hair, unless she meant to keep the Queen waiting on her. Which was never a good idea, with a woman of such uncertain temper.

The bedroom door swung open, and the maid announced Her Majesty, the Queen in a barely audible whisper.

Verity got up and set her teacup on the table.

"That will be all, Tilly," she said. "Lilah, go to the kitchens and fetch us some refreshments."

The girls both bolted out of the room, with their dignity barely intact.

Verity curtsied, as properly as she knew how. "Your Majesty, what brings you to honor me with a visit, this morning?"

The Queen sniffed. "It's almost noon, Verity. Hardly morning at all, anymore. You've been unusually slow today. I hope this is not a sign of your slipping into bad habits."

Verity bottled up her frustration and said, "No, Your Majesty."

"Good," said Violetta crisply. "Now, as to the matter of what happened yesterday."

Her pulse jumped, and she felt a dull ache in her chest. What had the Queen seen and heard? What's more, what might she have surmised from what she saw? It was impossible to know from her face, which was locked in a not-unusual pinched expression.

She waited silently for the Queen to speak, not wanting her anxious reactions to betray any information that she had not yet learned herself.

"The King informs me that you have been distracting Jarrod from his duties as Crown Prince." Violetta's mouth twisted in distaste. "I am not fond of them both disappearing on unannounced excursions, but if that's what the King deems necessary, then Jarrod must be prepared to comply. And so must you, Verity."

She almost exhaled in relief, but caught herself in time.

"Do you understand me?" asked Violetta, her voice turning sharp.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she answered meekly.

Of course she didn't bother explaining that she hadn't failed to _comply_ in any particular way, and that Jarrod's inability to wake up early in the morning was entirely his own doing. Whether he was in bed alone or not. Likewise, she avoided mentioning her own particular distaste for spending time with her husband, day or night. It hadn't been her idea to begin with, after all.

Queen Violetta, who could not hear the thoughts that ran through her daughter-in-law's mind, smiled a thin, pale smile and nodded once. She got up, and made for the door without another word. Apparently, this was all the dealing with that she thought Verity needed, which was much to Verity's advantage. Things could have gone much more poorly, but the Queen, apparently, had no ideas about what was behind her husband's sudden, violent anger.

Verity, though, knew exactly why he was so enraged. And there wasn't much that she could do about it.

* * *

"I understand you had a rather tense encounter with Papa," said Gisette sweetly, some time late the next morning.

Verity had been writing letters and minding her own business, and had thought Gisette was likewise preoccupied with her own mysterious correspondence. A passing glance proved her suspicion that Gisette's letters were written mostly in cipher, and a much more complicated one than anything that Verity could recognize at a glance. But she had let the matter go and stuck to her own work, because she had a great deal of unread correspondence to reply to, and after all, Gisette deserved her privacy, too. She was therefore less than pleased to find herself the subject of scrutiny once more.

"It was nothing," she brushed it off. "His Majesty just wanted to be certain that I won't prove a _distraction_ to Jarrod from his duties. Naturally, I could reassure him that I had no such intention."

She quirked her face, and Gisette laughed.

"Still, I wouldn't dismiss it so lightly, Verity," she said. "Papa can be quite obstinate, if he perceives a threat to his control. I would hate to see him interpret your actions as a threat."

Verity suppressed a shudder. "The Queen spoke to me the same day," she replied. "She assured me that the matter had been cleared up."

"I hope you're right, Verity," said Gisette.

"I hope that Jarrod has the good sense to keep his mind on his duties, from now on," replied Verity.

Gisette acknowledged the statement with a nod of her head and a small smile, before turning her attention back to the papers on the desk before her. Verity, likewise, returned her eye to her pen. The letters she was writing today were not nearly as mysterious or significant as whatever Gisette was scheming over, but it was important to maintain contact with friends. One never knew when a good friend would be needed, and Verity was constantly aware of how much she depended on the good will of others. One day, she may find herself grateful that she took the trouble to reconnect with her father's first cousin, or her mother's step-brothers. Nearer to home, Nerissa and Kavita were both expecting weekly letters from her, throughout the summer, though she didn't envy the couriers who plied the roads to and from Starfall City.

Condensing the news of her life into a palatable form, ready to be digested by her Arland relatives, took up most of her attention. She was so preoccupied with self-censoring her impressions of Revaire's current political fortunes that she didn't realize her ears had picked up on the sound of a door hinge until it was too late. When she heard a familiar voice speaking, it was all she could do not to smudge the fresh ink.

"Gisette, go to your room."

Gisette stood up so abruptly that her chair was nearly knocked back to the floor, and cried out, "But Papa--!"

"But nothing," the King cut in ruthlessly. "Go."

Grasping her papers in one hand and the inkwell in the other, she huffed out of the room looking uncommonly close to throwing a tantrum.

Verity carefully dried the nib of her pen on a square of linen and set them both aside. Clasping her hands in her lap like a well-behaved maiden, she turned her gaze to the man standing in the doorway.

He turned, and shut the door with a soft thump. "We haven't had a chance to finish our conversation of the other day, Verity," he said, with his back still turned to her. "I came here to rectify that."

She drew in a careful breath and asked, "Is this a negotiation, Your Majesty?"

Hyperion drew back the chair that Gisette had recently been occupying and took a seat, leveling his sharpest glare at her. "What makes you ask that?"

"You had recently done me the favor of taking Jarrod away," said Verity slowly, "and I was wondering whether you considered me to be in your debt. And whether you had come to collect."

If one line of defense didn't take, then surely the second would hold.

But it did, of course. For a clever man, Hyperion could be almost as easy to manipulate as his son. When she kept a clear enough head to do it, that is. Now his tense energy was slowly dissipating, and a razor-thin smile spread on his face, a smile she was intimately familiar with. She would still pay a price for things that were outside of her control, but perhaps now the price would be one that she could afford. And if there was a way for her to dissipate Hyperion's misplaced anger, then maybe she could survive in Revaire, after all.


End file.
